Appendix D: Scansion and Metre

Scansion is the analysis of poetic rhythm — identifying the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (in English, German) or long and short syllables (in Latin, Greek).

Why Scansion Matters

Understanding metre helps you: - Read poetry correctly — knowing where stresses fall - Appreciate poetic craft — seeing how poets work within and against patterns - Recognise verse forms — identifying epic, lyric, dramatic metres - Translate poetry — maintaining rhythm across languages

Two Systems of Metre

Part One: English Metre

Basic Concepts

English metre is accentual-syllabic: it counts both the number of syllables and the pattern of stresses.

The Metrical Feet

Line Lengths

Scanning English Verse: Method

Step 1: Mark naturally stressed syllables (as in normal speech) Step 2: Identify the predominant foot Step 3: Divide into feet Step 4: Note variations from the pattern

Worked Example: Iambic Pentameter

Line: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)

Step 1: Mark natural stress > Shall I com-pare thee to a sum-mer’s day?

Step 2: Identify the foot — predominantly iambic (u /)

Step 3: Divide into feet > Shall I | com-pare | thee to | a sum | mer’s day

Step 4: Notation

  u    /    u    /     u   /    u   /     u     /
Shall  I | com-pare | thee to | a  sum | mer's day

Five iambic feet = iambic pentameter

Worked Example: Trochaic Tetrameter

Line: Tyger! Tyger! burning bright (Blake)

  /    u    /   u     /   u     /
Ty-ger | Ty-ger | burn-ing | bright

Four trochaic feet = trochaic tetrameter (with the final unstressed syllable omitted — a catalexis)

Common English Metres

Variations and Substitutions

Poets rarely maintain perfect regularity. Common variations include:

Example with Variations

Line: To be, or not to be: that is the question (Hamlet)

  u   /     u   /    u  /     /   u   u    /   u
To be | or not | to be | — that | is the | question

Notes: - Feet 1-3: Regular iambs - Foot 4: Trochee (stressed-unstressed) — a trochaic substitution - Foot 5: Ends with feminine ending (-tion) - Caesura after “be” — marked by the colon

Part Two: Latin and Greek Metre (Quantitative)

The Fundamental Difference

Latin and Greek metre is based on syllable length (quantity), not stress:

What Makes a Syllable Long?

A syllable is long if:

1. It contains a long vowel — ā, ē, ī, ō, ū (marked with macrons)
   • amō = a-mō (˘ —)
2. It contains a diphthong — ae, au, ei, eu, oe, ui
   • causam = cau-sam (— ˘)
3. It ends in a consonant before another consonant (position makes long)
   • factum = fac-tum (— ˘) — the c before t makes fac long

The Dactylic Hexameter

The standard metre of epic poetry (Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey; Virgil’s Aeneid).

Structure:

— ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — x
 dactyl   dactyl   dactyl   dactyl   dactyl  spondee/trochee

Rules: - Six feet - Each foot is a dactyl (— ˘ ˘) or spondee (— —) - Fifth foot is almost always a dactyl - Sixth foot is always — x (long + anceps, i.e., long or short)

Scanning Latin Hexameter: Worked Example

Line: Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs (Virgil, Aeneid 1.1)

“Arms and the man I sing, who first from the shores of Troy…”

Step 1: Mark known long vowels (macrons) > Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs

Step 2: Mark position (consonant clusters) > Ar-ma vi-rum-que ca-nō, Trō-iae quī prī-mus ab ō-rīs

Step 3: Determine quantities

Ár-ma vi-rúm-que ca-nṓ | Trṓ-iae quī | prī́-mus ab | ṓ-rīs
 — ˘   ˘  —   —    ˘ —     — —  —      — ˘   ˘    — —

Step 4: Divide into feet

— ˘ ˘ | — —  | — ˘ ˘ | — — | — ˘ ˘ | — —
Ar-ma vi|rum-que |ca-nō Trō|iae quī|prī-mus ab|ō-rīs

Feet: dactyl | spondee | dactyl | spondee | dactyl | spondee

The Elegiac Couplet

Used in elegy and epigram (Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus).

Structure: Hexameter + pentameter

Hexameter:  — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — x
Pentameter: — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | — || — ˘ ˘ | — ˘ ˘ | —
                            (caesura)

Greek Metres

Greek uses the same quantitative principles but with additional patterns.

The Iambic Trimeter

Used in dialogue (drama, especially tragedy):

u — | u — | u — || u — | u — | u —

Actually six iambs, but grouped as three metra (pairs).

Lyric Metres

Greek lyric poetry uses complex patterns. Examples:

Part Three: French and Spanish Metre (Syllabic)

Syllable-Counting Systems

French and Spanish poetry counts syllables rather than marking stress patterns.

French Verse

The Alexandrine: - 12 syllables - Caesura after syllable 6 - Pattern: 6 + 6

Example: Je le vis, je rougis, je pâlis à sa vue (Racine)

Je le vis, | je rou-gis, || je pâ-lis | à sa vue
  1  2  3     4   5   6      7  8  9    10 11 12

Rules for counting: - Silent e (e muet) counts before a consonant, elides before a vowel - Final e at line end does not count

Spanish Verse

The Octosyllable:

Example: Que por mayo era, por mayo (traditional)

Que-por-ma-yo-e-ra-por-ma-yo
 1   2   3  4 5 6  7   8

Synalepha: When a word ends with a vowel and the next begins with one, they count as one syllable.

Part Four: German Metre

German uses accentual-syllabic metre similar to English but with some differences.

Key Features

Common Metres

Example: Goethe

Line: Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh (“Wandrers Nachtlied II”)

Ü-ber | al-len | Gip-feln | ist Ruh
— u     — u      — u        —  —

Trochees with final spondee.

Summary: Scanning Across Languages

Quick Reference: Scansion Symbols

Practice Passages

English

Scan these lines:

1. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day (Gray)
2. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more (Shakespeare)
3. Half a league, half a league, half a league onward (Tennyson)

Latin

Scan this hexameter:

Tītyre, tū patulae recubāns sub tegmine fāgī (Virgil, Eclogues 1.1)

French

Count syllables:

Waterloo! Waterloo! Waterloo! morne plaine! (Hugo)

Previous: Appendix C: Language Families and Borrowing

Next: Appendix E: Unusual Grammatical Features